Distance
by Chibi-Chichan
Summary: NaruSaku. Naruto grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down to meet him on the bed. After all, it was a cold night in the Hidden Rain Village. UPDATED!
1. The Old Naruto

**Distance**

NaruSaku. Naruto grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down to meet him on the bed. After all, it was a cold night in the Hidden Rain Village.

A/N: Hello all, this is my first NaruSaku fic and I shall try to be serious about it. XD Wow... the first chapter is surprisingly long which is not often my style but hopefully I keep this up. The beginning is rather slow but hopefully you continue reading, it'll eventually pick up. By the way, the summary might not happen for a while... XD

...

A clock ticked loudly, resounding throughout the nearly empty house. Nearly empty because there was someone there, weary and deep in thought as they sat gazing at the framed photograph of four people. A team of genin and their silver-haired sensei. Dark shadows ringed his eyes as he studied the young and unaware faces captured in time. Unaware of the future of sorrow and pain that lay ahead and the time that could never mend the wounds.

He closed his eyes wearily, replacing the photograph on the bedside table and stood, preparing to leave.

It had been two and a half years since that day that the wounds were made. A month since they had been re-opened. And now this.

A recent report had been made that Sasuke Uchiha had been spotted outside of the village.

Naruto picked up his headband, tying it on around his forehead. He fumbled with the cloth a few times, cursing the slight tremble in his hands. Finished, he turned and glanced at himself in the mirror.

Tired and anxious were the words that registered in his mind at the sight of himself. He had hardly enough sleep since the recent passing of Jiraiya...

He shook his head attempting to clear it. He needed to remain focused. There was no more time to mourn the loss of one of the closest people to him; he couldn't afford any further mistakes.

He had made far too many of those already.

With this thought in mind, he closed the door to his house behind himself and made his way down the pathway.

Sakura knew that roaming the streets had become a habit of Naruto's lately and it did not surprise her to see him wandering past her house, hands shoved into his pockets, shoulders slumped and gaze fixed to the floor before him. It was saddening to see such a defeated expression on his face; it was how almost everyone felt when they had witnessed him roaming about lately.

Sighing, Sakura made a mental note to check on her team mate later as the Fifth Hokage had requested her assistance earlier in the morning and knowing her sensei as she did, the would be no chance of her putting it off.

Besides, she understood that Naruto needed some time to himself.

Resisting the urge to open her bedroom window and call him, Sakura adjusted her headband and prepared to leave for her meeting with Tsunade.

...

Tsunade let out a long sigh and shifted in her seat, uncrossing her legs and recrossing it with the opposite leg over the other. It had been a long week and the dark rings under her eyes indicated so.

Today, she had decided to wear black as everyone else did. After all, it was an appropriate colour for such an occasion, was it not?

"Sensei?"

At the sound of her pupil's voice, Tsunade opened her eyes slowly, fighting off the sleep that was eagerly waiting to overcome her.

"Sakura, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to inform you that Team Seven will be having a new mission as of tomorrow," she explained, picking up her now cold coffee and sipping it, cringing. Horrible.

"A new mission?" Sakura repeated blankly, blinking in confusion.

"Yes," Tsunade said, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose as she sighed, the bitter taste of coffee lingering in her mouth as she spoke, "I wanted to make it clear to your that we cannot allow to have any more mistakes made. We've already lost two valuable ninjas and with the possible threat of Akatsuki attacking, we need to fortify our defences." She cleared her throat as she continued, "From Jiraiya's last mission, he had gathered information that the location of the Akatsuki is within the Hidden Rain Village. Your mission is to infiltrate the village, gather information about their actual location within the village and what they plan to do."

For Sakura's sensei to simply call her up to inform her of their mission that she could have done in front of the entire Team Seven and to remind her of something that was meant to be a general understanding in every shinobi mission did not make sense. It was hardly a reason for Sakura to be informed of the mission before the rest of her squad members. Understanding that there was more to the mission that Tsunade wanted to address, Sakura remained silent and waited as the Sannin gave the bridge of her nose another squeeze, an attempt to eliminate the painful headache that had been building up over the past few days.

"Sakura," the Fifth Hokage finally began, "please make sure that Naruto is able to get through this mission."

It was surprising to hear that Tsunade had called her to her office simply to express her concern over Naruto. But then, everyone had been concerned over Naruto lately and it wasn't difficult to know why. The usual bright and energetic teenager had vanished for the past few days, replaced with a sullen and moody character that no one could recognise to be the Naruto they had all grown to love.

Who was that lone boy that preferred to wander the streets of Konoha, who hardly spoke to his comrades? The thought upset Sakura as she cast her gaze to a spot on the floor in front her, biting her lip.

Nodding silently, Sakura wondering if Naruto was mentally and emotionally prepared to face Sasuke once again after that last failed mission to retrieve him. Especially after the death of his sensei who he obviously must have been very attached to.

Both Naruto and Sakura had trained hard for the past two and a half years; it was their goal to rescue Sasuke together, to bring him back home so that they could live like they used to before, Team Seven, finally together again. But the recent death had taken a toll on Naruto's well-being and most likely on his overall mission performance which Tsunade was probably aware. This was why Sakura was there.

"I'll look after him," Sakura vowed quietly. "I promised him more than two years ago that I'd look after both of them. I won't go back on my word," she said as she raised her gaze to her sensei's, a look of determination reflected in her eyes as she spoke.

Tsunade nodded approvingly. "Good," she smiled, swivelling her chair around to look out the glass windows. "I want you to round up your team mates and bring them here. I will be providing you all with the papers of identification and passport for your infiltration into the village. You're dismissed until then."

Sakura gave a brief bow and turned on her heel, heading out of the door and shutting it behind herself.

Usually, if a mission was as big and dangerous as their current mission given to them, Naruto would exclaim excitedly and be the first to have his bag packed, ready to leave the village as soon as he could.

"Oh, I understand," Naruto replied grimly, his brows knotted together in thought.

Although their mission was serious, Sakura couldn't help but miss the old Naruto who would have been thrilled to have an opportunity to display his skills, his attitude towards missions being rather childish. This Naruto, she couldn't help to relate to a certain dark-haired ninja...

She sighed and turned to her other team mate, hoping he at least hadn't changed beyond the point of recognition. Sai's usual smile was not present and instead, he too held a serious expression, but this was because he was studying Naruto's face carefully.

Sakura ran a tired hand through her hair. "Let's go get Kakashi-sensei and head to the Hokage's office," she said as no one else was willing to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen upon the group. She glanced at Naruto one more time and wondered silently if he noticed how worried everyone was over him, how worried _she_ was over him.

Shaking her head clear, she led the way to their sensei's house hoping that she would be able to keep to her promise she had made long ago.

...

"WWWHHHHHHHAAAAATTTTTT?"

A vein in Tsunade's forehead popped out dangerously. "You have some kind of objection kid?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as she glowered at Naruto, daring him to say something.

Naruto pulled a face. "Of course I have an objection," he grumbled before throwing a glare in Sai's direction and pointing accusingly at him. "Why is he and Sakura engaged?" he yelled, glancing at Sakura who simply sighed exhaustedly.

Tsunade massaged her temple. "It's part of the mission. For you to infiltrate the village successfully we need you all to be under cover. This is a covert operation Naruto. That is why we will have both you and Kakashi heading into the village two days before Sakura and Sai will so that no one will be able to connect the two groups to one another. You and Kakashi will play the roles of father and son, travelers from the Hidden Mist Village who wish only for a peaceful place to stay and as the Hidden Rain Village has such tight security, it's why you selected it as your place of residence. A secure place to call home," she explained as simply as she could, watching as Naruto continued to stubbornly give a disapproving frown.

"I still don't like the idea of them being engaged, I mean, I could play Sai's part easily!" Naruto complained causing numerous sighs to emit from everyone in the room.

"Naruto," Sakura said gently, placing a hand on his arm. "Tsunade-sama has already prepared our places of residence at the Hidden Rain Village. Your house will not be too far from mine, so don't worry so much." With this, Sakura smiled reassuringly at her team mate.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto's voice trailed off as he stared at Sakura in surprise before giving in and nodding his head briefly.

Thanking Sakura mentally, Tsunade cleared her throat. "Now that you have all of the paperwork required to enter the village this mission will now commence. Team Seven, dismissed!"

Once they were outside of the room, Kakashi breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Really Naruto, you don't have to object to nearly everything the Fifth says," Kakashi said wearily as the team made their way down the corridor leading to the front door of the building.

"Pfft!" Naruto kicked at the floor bitterly, glancing sideways at Sai and wondering if he were happy to be engaged to Sakura. At the thought of their engagement, false or not, it aggravated Naruto to the point that he cried out, flailing his arms about wildly. "But he doesn't even like her!" he yelled, pointing indignantly at the apathetic Sai.

"It's just a mission, Naruto-kun," he replied smoothly, his eyes staring straight ahead of him. "Besides, I'm not interested in people who look like Sakura-san," he dismissed coolly, receiving a whack on the head from an outraged Sakura for his careless comment.

"I'm right next to you for goodness sakes!" she yelled angrily, her fist ready to pound Sai again.

Scratching the back of his head tiredly, Kakashi wondered why he always ended up with the strange kids. "Well anyway, Naruto, the mission has already commenced, so we will be leaving straight away you do realise that, right?"

Naruto nodded. "I just want to pack a few clothes before we leave."

"Make it quick then and make sure that's all you pack. We don't want them checking our bags and finding anything that could link us to Konoha."

"Right."

Turning on his heel, Naruto raced off in the direction of his house to prepare his things for the mission. Sakura watched as he ran and smiled to herself. She was glad to see the old energetic Naruto again.

The team met up again at the large exit gates of Konoha to bid farewell to each other.

Naruto seemed unsure now and stared at his feet as he spoke quietly to Sakura, "What if Sasuke returns while we're gone?"

Sakura was surprised at his question before she replied in a soft voice, "If that happens, remember that Tsunade has already promised that she'll call us back to strengthen Konoha's defenses."

This didn't seem to reassure Naruto for he continued to stare at his feet, the shadows under his eyes appearing darker than before. It was this that prompted Sakura to reach forward and tug at his sleeve, a weak and forced smile on her face as she held back tears that were building up within her chest.

_Don't make that face Naruto, it's saddening. I want you to smile, please._ The words she couldn't bring herself to say died on her lips and instead she mumbled, her smile more strained than before, "Do your best, Naruto."

Her hold on his sleeve released and her hand fell back to her side. She knew it was weak and that he could see past the forced smile but her breath caught in her throat all the same.

He had smiled in return, an embarrassed sort of smile that had been the cause of her breath catching in her throat. "I'm sorry to have made you wait," he said in a quiet voice, the shy smile portraying what he meant.

The all-knowing smile on his face, as if he understood what she had wanted to say brought tears to Sakura's eyes. The corners of her mouth pulled, a smile appearing genuinely on her lips as she thanked Shikamaru mentally for talking to Naruto the day before.

"You cry so easily Sakura, don't worry! I'll do my best," Naruto promised as Kakashi called for them to leave. "And I never go back on my word," he said, his smile still in place as he turned and ran after Kakashi to catch up to him.

The warm smile on his face that told her the old Naruto had finally returned had been worth the wait.

...

A/N: Siiiggghhh, long chapter... It'll pick up next chapter, don't worry. Please leave a review.


	2. Under Suspicion

**Distance**

NaruSaku. Naruto grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down to meet him on the bed. After all, it was a cold night in the Hidden Rain Village.

A/N: Siigghhh, I forgot to mention how this is based on the recent chapters of Naruto so a warning to those who haven't read as far that you're in for a lot of spoiling! LOL, _may _contain a smidgen of SasuHina in much more later chapters. But don't worry, this fic's focus is NaruSaku anyway. Hopefully I manage to keep everyone in character. :X Onto the second chapter!

…

The first light of dawn touched the two comrade's feet as they silently made their way towards the village's gates, the rays rising slowly with each step they made until eventually, it illuminated their faces faintly at the opened Konoha gates.

As soon as they stepped out of the village, they would be engaged; fiancés due to be married in seven months, no longer the two members of Team Seven, Sakura Haruno and Sai.

Sakura took a deep and steadying breath to calm her nerves. As Tsunade had said, they couldn't afford to make any more mistakes and she wasn't going to allow herself to be easily overwhelmed by the nerves that accompanied the importance of the mission. If Naruto had promised he was going to do his best and follow through with it then so would she. She refused to be left behind anymore.

Preparing herself to step out of the village, Sakura wondered whether Kakashi and Naruto had successfully infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village. She knew that there was no possible war for them to communicate with Konoha once inside as the security at that village was high; they were probably being watched carefully, every move they made surveyed.

Sakura was so deep in thought that she hadn't realised the voice calling her name until Sai placed a hand on her shoulder, breaking her train of thought and stopping her in her tracks. She glanced up at Sai who was looking back over his shoulder and following his gaze she found a breathless Hinata Hyuuga, hand over her chest as she attempted to catch her breath.

"Hinata!" Sakura called in surprise before she remembered what Tsunade had told her team two days ago. "You're part of Team Eight, right? Tsunade-sama mentioned that she placed your squad near the head of the Konoha defence Operation."

Having caught her breath back, Hinata nodded and straightened up, squaring her shoulders. "I a-apologise for not seeing the other half of your group off the other day... We had our hands full, s-so there was no opportunity-" Hinata stopped when Sakura put up a hand to stop her, a smile lighting her face.

"Don't worry about that! It's trivial in comparison to what you've been assigned to do," Sakura said breezily, waving away Hinata's excuse as she grinned. "Besides, I'm sure the operation is consuming most of your time and energy, so don't sweat it."

There was a pause before Hinata allowed relief to wash over her and sighed, relaxing her previously squared shoulders. "Thank you," she breathed in gratitude. Her relaxed state did not last long however, as she bit her bottom lip worriedly. "U-uh..." she began nervously, glancing up at Sakura who smiled encouragingly in return. Reassured, Hinata smiled shyly and asked quietly, "Can y-you please l-look after N-Naruto-kun?" She cast her gaze down to the ground, a gentle blush creeping across her delicate cheeks.

"Of course!" Sakura grinned, giving Hinata the thumbs up. "And in return, continue to do your best Hinata."

"I will," Hinata replied more confidently than usual.

Sakura turned and began to walk away alongside Sai, raising her hand in farewell without turning around. "I leave this village in your team's capable hands."

Hinata squeezed her hands together and summoning her courage, she shouted after Sakura, hoping that she would understand the gratitude that she felt, "If _h-he_ returns... I'll... I'll make sure to call you and Naruto-kun personally!"

Sakura simply waved her hand in reply without turning around and Hinata knew that it was a sign of thanks.

Smiling to herself, Hinata turned and headed towards her team's usual meeting place, a spring in her step.

She had made a promise and she was not going back on her word. And to do this, she needed to keep up to date with the various reports of the recent sightings of Konoha's missing shinobi.

Sasuke Uchiha.

...

They had been traveling for a while now and throughout the entire journey, Sakura had been preparing herself for the onslaught of interrogative questions that were sure to be thrown at them as soon as they reached the entry gates of the Hidden Rain Village. She had been worrying that the shinobi of the Rain would be able to see through her act and it wasn't reassuring that the silence between her partner and herself was prominent.

Acting as a recently engaged couple wasn't going to be easy.

As she thought this she spotted the gates that led into the Hidden Rain Village and quickly slowed to a walking pace, Sai also slowing down to match her speed beside her.

They were to act as planned.

Sakura put out her hand delicately and Sai reached out, holding it in his own. With his other hand, Sai transformed one of his kunai into an umbrella which he opened and handed to his fiancé who smiled sweetly, thanking him for his thoughtfulness as she shaded herself, thankful for the cover.

The rest of the journey would be a very long walk. Because of the lack of information on the Hidden Rain Vilage, it was necessary for Sakura and Sai to take extra precaution because there was still the chance that even before reaching the village's gates that they would be surveyed.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear with trembling fingers, Sakura suddenly felt uncomfortable and self-conscious. It was as if the trees on either side of the pathway had suddenly grown eyes and were watching their every move. Unconsciously, Sakura drew herself closer to her companion, her hold on his hand tightening slightly.

Sai glanced at her before returning his calm gaze to the village's gates that now loomed ahead forebodingly. "Calm down, Sakura-san," he said quietly, his lips hardly moving. "There's a reason why Hokage-sama selected me for this particular part of the mission. I'm experienced in these interrogative situations, so I'll handle most of this."

As he said this, the gates were now only a few lengths away and Sakura gulped, nodding silently. They had only just reached the gates when a voice rang out through the area.

"State your purpose!"

Shifting the umbrella over Sakura to completely cover her alarmed appearance, Sai looked to the top of the village's gates, addressing the man who stood atop it. "We're a couple from the Hidden Tea Village looking for a new scenery."

The man seemed to scrutinise them for a moment, before barking his next question, "And why, of all village's would you take the Rain Village into far more consideration than another?"

Sai smiled. "I like the rain," he stated bluntly. At the expresion on the man's face, he elaborated, "I associate rain with a peaceful and enjoyable time." He gestured to Sakura as he continued, "I met my wonderful fiancé in the rain one lovely evening..."

"Oh my, Sai!" Sakura forced a giggle, playfully slapping his shoulder. "Don't tell _everyone_ about that day!" she turned and smiled at their interrogator, praying he hadn't noticed the white of her knuckles as she gripped the umbrella handle tightly like her life depended upon it. "I'm sorry," she apologised, forced smile still in place, "he enjoys telling everyone about that particular story."

The man above them narrowed his eyes. "Names?"

"Sai Yamakaze."

"Sakura Minazawa."

They both bowed before Sakura straightened up quickly, appearing as if a thought had just struck her. "Oh, but that will be Sakura Yamakaze in a few months time!" she sang cheerily with Sai nodding in agreement.

There was sudden movement and instinctively, Sai swiftly pushed Sakura behind him, snatching the umbrella from her in the process. He opened it in front of him in a defensive stance against the man who had jumped off from the top of the village's gates and was now standing in front of him, in a position that Sai instantly recognised.

A position that suggested he wished to fight.

The man's eyes narrowed further as he observed Sai's stance. "Why are you defending yourself?"

Sakura mentally cursed. Had Sai already blown their cover?

Before she could say or do anything however, Sai spoke, "I've heard that the Hidden Rain Village is a place of tight security and that they're suspicious of everyone who intends to enter their well-protected village. It's a village with a policy that I can easily relate to. After all, I can't easily trust everyone and anyone so I can't let my guard down. Knowing this now, wouldn't you agree that we would fit right in with your village's policy?"

The man before them seemed to study Sai silently before he smirked. "I like you kid, but it doesn't mean I trust you," he said as he relaxed his stance.

"I don't mind, as long as you know that I _don't_ like you," Sai said with a smile.

"S-Sai!" Sakura gasped. She didn't want them to be declined access into the village because of her partner's straight-forward attitude.

However, the man in front of them simply threw back his head and roared in laughter, alarming Sakura before he bowed. "Kazuma Soiichiro," he said, straightening up and ginning at the pair before him, He dug into his pants pocket before drawing out two tiny glinting sticker-like objects. "Here, stick these on," he said, tossing one to both Sakura and Sai.

"What are these?" Sai asked, holding the tiny sticker piece up to examine it in the afternoon sun.

"It allows you admission into the village."

Sai eyed the tiny piece suspiciously and glanced up at Kazuma who simply grinned

"I've been given permission to force them on you if you refuse."

At this threat, Sai narrowed his eyes at Kazuma and turned to Sakura, nodding. They both stuck the pieces onto their hands. As Sai stared at the sticker adorning his hand now, he smiled. "Just another reason for me to not like you, old bast-"

Sakura hurriedly clamped her hand over Sai's mouth, laughing nervously as she dragged him towards the open Village gates. "Oh, don't mind him! It's been a long journey and he doesn't like the sun so its affected his head rather seriously. Thank you so much for your help Soiichiro-san!"

As they headed through the Village's gates, Kazuma smirked. "Thank _you_."

"Sai!" Sakura hissed as she let go of him. "You've got to be more careful of what you say! Stop saying things so carelessly or else you'll get someone really mad and draw unneeded attention towards us-hey! Are you listening?"

Sai's gaze was towards the bright azure sky. "It's not raining," he murmured quietly.

Sakura turned her eyes to the sky as well, a frown marring her face. "I noticed that too... and also, why didn't Soiichiro-san ask for our identification papers and passports?"

A piece of paper latched onto Sakura's leg and she attempted to shake it off. It stubbornly remained there and annoyed, Sakura reached down to pull it off grumbling about how disgusting it was to have litter lying around in a village.

"Sakura, take off the sticker," Sai ordered, ripping off his own. "We need to be extra careful. I have a bad feeling."

Sakura gulped and nodded, obediently ripping off the sticker. "In any case, we need to find our prepared place of residence."

Without warning, a few droplets of water touched Sakura, alarming her.

"But first, we'll simply find temporary shelter," Sai said, using the umbrella to cover both Sakura and himself. "It's suddenly raining now." Sai's brows knotted together as he glanced once more to the now dark and cloudy sky that was emptying buckets of water upon the entire village.

"There's a nearby ramen store, over there," Sakura suggested, pointing in its direction.

They made their way towards it and upon entry, were greeted by the inviting smells of finely cooked ramen dishes, reminding them that they had not eaten on their entire journey.

Sakura seated herself in a vacant chair at the counter next to an older man who appeared too busy sipping soup from his bowl to notice her. "Two bowls of ramen for me and my fiancé, please," she said as Sai seated himself next to her. The man beside her raised his silver-haired head as she spoke.

"A couple? How sweet!" said the female owner as she turned to prepare their meals.

"Why thank you," Sakura replied sweetly, smiling, her elbow brushing roughly against the older man's arm as she placed her elbows onto the counter, succeeding in knocking him slightly to the side. She turned to the man, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry about that! Are you all right?"

The man pulled himself back into his original position. "Don't worry about it. You're new to this place? I've only been here two days but I haven't seen you around before."

"Oh, yes, my fiancé and I traveled here from the Tea Village. I'm Sakura Minazawa and this is Sai Yamakaze."

"My name is Shissui Yoshido and this is my son, Masashi," replied the man as he gestured to the young blonde-haired teen seated beside him who smiled warmly and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

His familiar face, its usual whisker-like lines hidden with jutsu made Sakura smile as she bowed.

"I'm pleased to meet you both," she said as she straightened up. "So what brought you here to the Hidden Rain Village?" she asked conversationally, unable to suppress the huge grin that was creeping onto her face.

...

End of Chapter 2.

Honestly, I was kind of worried about posting this chapter up, but hopefully you liked it. Next chapter is where the real part of the mission begins, WOO! Some NaruSaku time! :P Leave a review please and tell me what you think. :)


	3. Settling In

**Distance**

NaruSaku. Naruto grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down to meet him on the bed. After all, it was a cold night in the Hidden Rain Village.

A/N: Yay! The real mission begins! I shall continue to try my best minna-san and keep the plot interesting! Anyways, so as not to confuse you, the beginning of this chapter occurs at the same time Sakura and Sai entered the village. Also, thanks goes to **mistresssire03 **for pointing out that silly mistake I made. XD Eheheh, whoops!

Start chapter three!

...

The paper blew gently in the wind and attached itself to blue hair before molding and sinking; fusing with the young woman's head. After the paper had finally returned to the owner's body, she opened her eyes slowly, her hand forming a zodiac sign before finally relaxing.

"Was that enough time for you, Konan?" the voice of a man around her age asked as he stood out on top of a large statue outside of the open room, his hands forming a jutsu sign. Dark rain clouds suddenly filled the bright sky at an alarmingly fast rate

"Yes," his blue-haired female companion replied. "We have new visitors, a couple due to be married; a dark-haired ninja and a pink-haired one. The dark-haired ninja most definitely appears to have had a lot of battle experience whilst not much is known about the pink-haired one. Overall, nothing out of the ordinary."

Her male companion was silent for a while as he continued to gaze out at the rainy town. "Or so it would seem," he mumbled, his eyes sweeping the various streets, houses and stores before him.

"Do not worry, Pein-sama. Kazuma has already marked the people of suspicion that we should keep an eye on. Before anyone is able to remove the mark, they are first checked by me on your orders."

Pein continued to scan the town, appearing as if he hadn't heard what Konan had said. "Konan, one of my bodies will be departing tomorrow in search of the ninth Jinchuuriki. After all, we don't want to be showed up by the likes of the Uchiha brat if he successfully catches the eigth. Before the time I leave tomorrow, I want you to survey our new visitors first. With the disappearance of the Sannin, Jiraiya, I'm sure that someone may arrive into our town with hostile intentions."

Konan bowed her head. "Yes, Pein-sama."

...

"It was nice meeting the both of you," Sakura said smilingly as she bowed, both Sai and her preparing to leave the ramen store.

"Yes, it was," agreed Kakashi as his alias Shissui. "Perhaps we may meet again some other time. Although there are many eyes upon us as new people, the attention is rather delightful, I think."

Both Sakura and Sai understood the hidden message. They were all under suspicion and had to be wary of what they did, meaning they couldn't always "coincidentally" meet up at a ramen store to pass along messages. They had to be careful of what they did from now on.

"Maybe we can share some more ramen meals together!" Naruto as his alias Masashi suggested, grinning widely, his hands folded behind his head.

Sai smiled in return. "If you're directing that suggestion to me, than I hope that's your head speaking and not your dick."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?" Naruto shouted, held back by Kakashi before he could attempt to jump and attack Sai.

Sakura sighed. _Even on a mission these two can't be serious_.

She grabbed Sai's sleeve and proceeded in dragging him away before he could be pummeled by the enraged Naruto. "Come on, we're going now, stop harassing Na-I mean,-Masashi-san." She turned and waved over her shoulder. "Goodbye! We may see you some other time!"

The other half of Team Seven waved farewell and Sakura faced back ahead of herself, reaching into her pocket and rummaging in it for a moment before pulling out a small piece of paper containing directions to where they were to be situated for the mission. Glancing around herself, Sakura followed the directions on the piece of paper, leading her and Sai to a small but comfortable looking apartment.

"Luckily, we already have the keys for this place," Sakura said as she pulled out a pair of identical keys, handing one to Sai. "One for you and one for me," she explained at the confused look on his face before turning to the door and unlocking it.

Pushing the door opened, Sakura ran her hand along the wall next to the doorway, feeling around in the darkness for a switch. Upon finding it, she flicked it on and immediately a light bulb lit up the room. Both team mates walked into the lit room, looking around themselves at what was to be their kitchen for however long it took to complete their mission. Secretly, Sakura hoped that it wouldn't take long. It was keeping them away from Konoha and with the recent appearances of Sasuke near their village...

She bit her bottom lip. She didn't want to be away on a mission when he finally decided to return to the village.

Sai's voice brought her back from her inners thoughts as he breathed out in relief. "I know what I'm doing first," he said as his hands went to the hem of his shirt and he began to pull it over his head, whilst walking in the direction that instinctively told him was the way to the bathroom.

Gasping at his sudden half-naked body, Sakura grabbed the nearest object which happened to be a plastic cup and flung it at his head, watching with satisfaction as it rebounded off his head after making loud contact. "Don't you dare start stripping carelessly in front of me! I'm a girl in case you haven't noticed!" she yelled causing Sai to pause, his shirt in his hands and his exposed back to her. There was silence where a muscle under Sakura's right eye twitched convulsively. "You were just thinking 'who would notice that you were a girl', weren't you?"

Turning around to face her, an earnest expression on his face, Sai replied frankly, "Actually, I was just thinking that you have hardly anything to show that you're a girl."

A fist aimed at his face but experienced as Sai was, he swiftly dodged it, his usual smile on his face once more as he dodged several kicks aimed at him in random fury. He ducked under her next kick and took this as an opportunity to sweep her remaining foot from under her. Before she could hit her head on the floor, Sakura put out her hands to stop herself from having a severe migraine for the rest of the day and looked up from her position on the floor just in time to glare at Sai's retreating back as he headed into the bathroom, calling after himself, humour marking his words:

"Make us some tea, I'm parched!"

"Make yourself some damn tea!" Sakura retorted, pushing herself back onto her feet and flinging the previously abused plastic cup at the bathroom door that shut in time to deflect it.

Fuming, Sakura turned on her heel and began to make tea, for herself anyway. _The nerve of him saying that with such a straight face, _she thought angrily, over-filling her cup and tea spilling over the kitchen counter. Too mad to care, Sakura picked up the cup and downed half of it, regretting it instantly as she coughed and spluttered, the scalding liquid most likely burning away her oesophagus. She sighed and sat down on a chair, placing her chin on her closed fist, wondering how long she would be able to last in a house with Sai.

It was then that she heard a knock.

She turned to the door, surprised, not knowing who could possibly want to greet them as they were not on familiar terms with anyone. "Please wait!" she called as she ambled towards the front door and opened it, expecting to greet someone however meeting no one. She stared at the night air before her before jumping as she heard the knock resound throughout the kitchen. Turning and closing the door behind herself, Sakura scanned the room, ensuring that she was alone before heading to the bathroom door and knocking on it.

"Yes?" Sai's muffled voice replied under the sound of running water. He was obviously taking a shower.

"Did you just knock on the wall or something?"

"Why would I?" came the muffled reply.

Sakura chewed her bottom lip worriedly, feeling uneasy as she glanced around herself. The house suddenly felt too empty. "Oh, no reason," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady.

Was there someone else in the house?

Making her way slowly and cautiously back into the kitchen, Sakura continued to look around herself, keeping her guard up at all times.

Another knock made her jump in fright.

She came to a stop and stood behind one of the kitchen chairs that surrounded the table, waiting for the knock to come once more.

This time it was more louder and insistent and Sakura realised that it was coming from underneath her feet. Drawing back, she stared down at the tiled floor below her and crouched down to get a better view of it. There was another, louder knock. Instinctively, she reached down, her thumbs finding the edge of a pair of tiles that had not been pushed downed properly and summoning chakra to her fingertips she pulled up the tiles, revealing that it was in fact a cleverly disguised trap door and underneath it she was greeted by a familiar grinning face.

"Na-Naruto?" Sakura gasped in surprise.

"Do you like the trap door Kakashi-sensei and I made? Do you, do you?" he asked excitedly as Sakura stepped back, allowing him to push himself up onto the tiled kitchen floor, his grin never leaving his face. "It took as the two days we've been here to finally finish it."

A smile lit Sakura's face as she breathed out a sigh of relief. It was good knowing that it had simply been her team mate who had been knocking the entire time. However... "Naruto, you idiot! You scared me half to death knocking like that! You could've at least warned me at the ramen shop in code that you guys had made a tunnel to my house!"

"But that would've ruined the surprise!" Naruto complained, pouting.

By this time, Kakashi had pulled himself onto the kitchen floor as well, greeting Sakura casually. "Where's Sai?" he asked, glancing around the kitchen.

"Oh, he's having a shower."

"As soon as he finishes, we need to discuss our mission but before that... Naruto and Sakura, I want you both to close or block off any entrance that would allow people to see into this room, we can't get caught before our mission really begins."

"Yes," both Sakura and Naruto said in unison as they headed off to the window and the door, securing them and closing the curtains.

Soon, Sai was walking out of the bathroom, dressed in casual wear, a towel to his hair as he dried it. "Naruto and Kakashi-sensei," he said, pausing, a look of surprise on his face. "What're you doing in here? Does anyone know you're here?"

Naruto grinned. "Heh! No problem since Kakashi-sensei and I built a tunnel to your place! Ain't it cool?" he asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the opened trapdoor.

"Sai, now that you're here, we will now to be able to discuss our mission further," Kakashi said as Sai turned his attention to the jounin, completely disregarding Naruto.

"OI! Don't ignore me!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fist at Sai who simply smiled.

"A small mind to accompany that small penis of yours."

Swiftly, Sakura grabbed hold of Naruto, restraining him from jumping and attacking Sai. "Naruto! Calm down, this isn't helping the mission!" Sakura ordered, struggling to hold Naruto back. She turned to address Sai, her eyes narrowing as she glared at him. "Get serious Sai, we're on a mission, we can't afford mistakes so stop provoking Naruto."

Kakashi looked from Sakura to Sai before sighing. "At this rate, no one will ever believe you're a couple with the cold glares you're giving one another. Well, as we are going to discuss our mission now, I want everyone to pay attention. As Sakura said, we must be serious about this mission if we wish to succeed."

Everyone nodded in silent agreement and Kakashi clapped his hands together.

"So please, take a seat everyone so we can discuss our plan of action."

...

Sakura closed the tiled trapdoor and smiled to herself. They had finished their mission briefing and Kakashi and Naruto had said their goodbyes and goodnights with Naruto adding on his additional warning to Sai that he would throttle him if he got any funny ideas whilst living with Sakura. She couldn't help it, she had to laugh at Naruto's naive protectiveness. He always wanted to protect people, things, it didn't matter, it was just his way.

"You're protective of him."

"Huh?" Sakura straightened up, raising a brow at Sai's statement.

"Naruto," Sai said, turning to Sakura's confused face. "You're always defending him, is it because you are companions and that is what you're meant to do?" he asked, being a person who was still developing their social and friendship skills.

Sakura laughed and waved away his question as if it were preposterous. "No, no! I do it because it's _Naruto_ and you can't help doing that with him. Naruto is Naruto, that's how I see it," she said smiling softly as she turned her gaze to the ceiling, placing her hands together behind her back. "Besides, he's always so busy worrying about others that he doesn't have time to worry about himself, so, someone should worry about Naruto for him, right?" she asked softly, not really looking for an answer from her companion.

Sai studied her expression for a few moments before opening his mouth to speak.

"Oh! What am I still doing here?" Sakura said with a nervous laugh, stretching to ease up the muscles in her shoulders. "I'm going to go take a shower, don't you _dare_ come into the bathroom, even accidentally," she said warningly, her jaw clenching and eyes flashing dangerously.

"Now why would I even want to peep at _you_ accidentally?"

Sakura socked him in the jaw. "I was holding back!" she growled menacingly as Sai sat up, rubbing his jaw. "Don't open your mouth at all, damn it!" she huffed, turning on her heel and storming to the bathroom, forcing herself not to kick it open, knowing that there'd be no way for her to stop Sai from waltzing in and seeing her in all her naked glory (although he had mentioned that he wasn't interested even if he did see her in such a state).

_Honestly_, she thought moodily as she turned on the hot water and stripped out of her clothing, hopping into the shower under the running water_. He says things so carelessly_.

...

End of Chapter 3.

A/N: Sorry for the slow and short chapter... Writer's block...? Laziness...? Wa... wakarenai... D: School's started again here in Australia, NOOO! D: But I'll continue trying to update, so please leave a review!


	4. Blankets

**Distance**

NaruSaku. Naruto grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her down to meet him on the bed. After all, it was a cold night in the Hidden Rain Village.

A/N: D: I've really been enjoying writing the slowly maturing love lately so please wait patiently, minna-san? Love doesn't develop that fast all the time! So, I shall continue to try my best with this? A lot of different settings are in this one, so hopefully it's fine...? Warning! A lot of references to latest chapters! Onto chapter 4! :)

...

Sakura shivered uncontrollably, hunched over in her futon, the cold far more unbearably than she had originally thought it would be and having only one blanket was not pleasant on such a bitterly cold night. She hunched over further, hugging herself in an attempt to keep warm yet could hardly feel her numbe fingers or toes despite her efforts. Looking across the room, she glared at the back of her dark-haired companion who was sleeping soundly. How was he able to handle such a temperature? _He's probably had a lot of missions in these kind of conditions_, Sakura thought as she gritted her teeth, attempting to wriggled further underneath her blanket in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the cold that constantly attacked her.

Heaving a loud sigh, she pushed her self up and sat, with her blanket wrapped securely around herself. There was no possible way she could sleep in this weather. Dragging herself tiredly to her feet, she supposed that it would warm her up if she drank some warm tea and in any case, she needed something warm to hold in her frozen fingers. Silently, she walked past her sleeping companion, the blanket brushing gently across the wooden floor as she headed to the bedroom door, sliding it open as quietly as she could before slipping out and shutting it softly behind herself. She shivered all the way to the kitchen where she prepared the teapot, filling it with water and placing it on the stove to boil before seating herself on one of the wooden kitchen chairs, rubbing her cold hands together desperately to warm them.

Her head shot up at the sound of soft knocking beneath her feet and she stood, pushing the seat back and crouching, uncovering her arms briefly and exposing it to the cold air as she hurriedly pulled up the tiled trap door, quickly withdrawing her arms back under the cover of the blanket.

A blonde and grinning shinobi greeted her holding a bundle of material in his arms. "Sakura-chan!" he said in a quiet yet excited tone. "I know it's really cold tonight, so I brought you and Sai some blankets, great yeah?" he said, grinning widely as he shifted the material in his arms to indicate that they were the blankets.

A wave of relief and gratitude washed over Sakura and she returned a smile, reaching forward and taking the blankets from her team mate's arms. "Naruto, that's really nice of you, thank you!" she said as she beamed at him, happily hugging the materials to herself.

Naruto laughed, giving her the thumbs up. "No problems! I didn't want you to catch a cold, so I thought I should just bring you the extra blankets Kakashi-sensei and I had!"

A warm smile pulled at Sakura's lips and she pulled the blankets closer to herself. _That's just like you, Naruto_. _Worrying over someone like me... thank you._

"Well then," Sakura began, noticing that the blonde only wore his regular outfit despite the cold, "you should get going too so that you don't catch a cold, we need to be a hundred percent for tomorrow. We're going to be gathering as much information as we can!" she said as she stood, preparing to leave.

Naruto nodded in agreement, reaching up to close the trap door over him but paused, his hand hanging onto the rim of the cut out opening, examining Sakura's confused face.

"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in wonder.

Making a face, Naruto mumbled, "Sai didn't do anything to you did he?"

"Huh?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, not completely understanding what he meant. "Oh yeah, he did. He pissed me off a lot so I punched him in the jaw," she said, the muscle under her eye twitching as she remembered.

"Hmm," Naruto said, his mouth pulling down into a hard line as he thought. "Is that all?"

"What do you mean by that?"

A stretch of silence followed before Sakura understood, a vein popping out on her forehead, the muscle under her eye twitching convulsively as she clenched the blankets in her arms. "Naruto... don't make me punch you too," she warned murderously, eyes burning.

Naruto's eyes widened and he waved his hands quickly, not wanting to die at such a young age. "AH! I mean, well-! D-don't worry about what I said!"

"Hmph!" Sakura turned her head away moodily.

"W-well then," Naruto said nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he grinned awkwardly. "I'll be going then."

"Then go already and don't you catch a cold, okay?"

Naruto smiled. "Yes, ma'am," he replied, saluting her and provoking Sakura to roll her eyes. His eyes softened. "Keep warm, okay?"

"Will do."

And with that, he shut the trap door over himself.

Sakura smiled contentedly to herself as she headed back to the bedroom, sliding the door open silently and slipping in, shutting the door in an equally quiet manner. She ambled over to where Sai lay, and dropped one blanket to the floor before lifting the other up and bending and pulling it over the dark-haired shinobi up to his shoulders. She then picked up the dropped blanket and headed back to her own futon and lay back on it, pulling the additional blanket onto herself and wrapping it securely before wriggling deeper into it, sighing in satisfaction at the warm. It didn't rid her of the cold entirely, but it certainly was going to make it easier for her to fall asleep.

And soon, she did exactly that and dreamt of three young genin who laughed together as they walked to their next mission, their silver-haired sensei leading the way...

A single tear slid down her cheek and fell onto her pillow.

...

The sound of running water awoke her and groggily, Sakura sat up in bed, rubbing the side of her hair before stretching widely as she yawned sleepily. It was light outside, most likely early morning and Sakura kicked off her blankets and stood before stretching once more and bending to make her bed, folding the blankets carefully. Finished, she headed over to the kitchen and found the teapot still sitting on the stove, her mind clicking as she remembered. Her eyes widened and she rushed over to the stove, realising that she had forgotten to turn if off last night. She was surprised however, to find that it had already been turned off and she reached forward cautiously, touching the side of the teapot. It was stone cold and obviously had been turned off long ago. It was not even darkened on the bottom which it should've been seeing as she had left it on for all of last night.

"I turned it off when you went to sleep since you left it on."

Sakura turned to find Sai, drying his hair with a towel as he walked into the kitchen, casually dressed in black.

"You were awake at that time?" she asked, surprised.

Sai nodded coolly. "I've been trained to wake up to the slightest sound and when your blankets brushed against the bedroom floor and you slid the door open, I woke up. I'm used to it though, you can never let your guard down, so it's handy to wake up to the smallest of sounds," he explained, seating himself on one of the kitchen chairs, sitting back into it calmly.

Sakura's brow twitched convulsively as she realised that he must have heard her conversation with Naruto as well. Choosing to ignore him, she turned to the stove and switched it on, watching it silently as she waited for it to be boil, wondering how things were doing in Konoha in their absence and if _he_ had returned yet.

She bit her lip and reminded herself that Hinata had promised her that she would personally inform her and Naruto if he were to make an appearance and she couldn't begin to doubt her comrade. Clenching her fist, she stared determinedly ahead, temporarily forgetting the boiling teapot before her. She had to believe in her comrades.

"Oi! The pot!"

Snapping out of her trance, Sakura cried in alarm at the slowly blackening pot, quickly switching the stove off. She sighed at the sight of the slightly blackened pot and hoped that her Konoha comrades were better off than she felt at the moment.

...

Hinata Hyuuga quickly placed her teacup down and covered her mouth, sneezing loudly.

"A cold?" her team mate, Kiba, asked in concern as he chewed on a sandwich.

Rubbing the tip of her nose, Hinata smiled awkwardly. "Uh... no... I don't think so at least... The weather's too good," she said, raising her gaze to the bright sky above them. Was someone talking about her? Her brows drew together and she frowned at her reflection in her tea cup.

"So about what you said," began Kiba, leaning back leisurely against the wall behind him and taking another bite out of his sandwich. "Are you sure about that?" he asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Hinata turned to him, her mouth forming a hard and determined line. "Yes. I have already asked Hokage-sama if I'm permitted to and she has agreed on one condition."

"Condition?"

She nodded, leaning back as she raised her eyes to the sky above her, an eagle flying overhead. "To ensure that I am accompanied when journeying out to confirm if the sightings of him are true," she said, the blue of the sky and the fluttering of the eagle's wings reflected in her light eyes. "But because we shall be busy maintaining Konoha's defense, I cannot be accompanied by you or Shino. Hokage-sama has also warned me the level of strength that Sasuke Uchiha is at so whoever I am to be accompanied by will be at jounin level," she explained, lowering her gaze back to her teammates face, a gentle smile on her face. "So, there'll be no need to worry over me, I will have back up with me at all times. However, Hokage-sama had also said that I cannot pass the borders of the Fire Country, no matter what."

Kiba nodded in understanding and Shino remained silent, his index finger held out, allowing a small fly to land upon it.

Hinata turned her gaze back to the peaceful scenery before her, a bird landing a few feet in front of her on the ground, cocking its head to the side as it observed her. "So tomorrow..." she continued quietly, watching the bird as it hopped about, "...I'll begin my duties as being in charge of the search for Sasuke Uchiha." She hung her head slightly, her grip tightening briefly on her teacup.

She had so many questions that she wanted to ask the Uchiha if she were ever to encounter him. Questions regarding why he left Konoha and hurt Naruto whom she thought the lone clan survivor had been close friends with. It didn't make any sense to the Hyuuga.

Knowing that the only person who could answer those questions at the moment was the raven-haired Uchiha himself, Hinata decided to push those thoughts to the back of her head and stared up at the sky once more. "I wonder... if it's raining where they are right now..." she wondered aloud, watching a white cloud drift lazily across the sky.

...

Blood spurted from his wound and Sasuke's feet dragged against the dirt as he was pushed back by the force of the attack from the Jinchuuriki, his hand pulling against the dirt as he attempted to steady himself. He had not expected the Jinchuuriki to be this strong. A bead of sweat trickled down his jaw as he caught his breath back after having been injured, his other hand that was not planted into the ground pressing against the slash on his chest, estimating the amount of damage made. Not too deep, but not shallow either and it wasn't wise for Sasuke to receive anymore direct blows from the host of the eight-tails.

"You seem pretty strong," he said in acknowledgement, sharingan rotating slowly as he observed the dark-skinned man before him who wielded several swords.

"Hah, not only strong but also wise in my rhymes!" rapped the Jinchuuriki. "And now that you've acknowledged my strength, it's about time I finished this, right?" he said in a questioning manner but with no intention of waiting for a response as he prepared to launch another attack.

Sharigan rotating, this time, Sasuke was prepared. As the eight-tails' host began to roll towards him, swords poking out precariously, resembling spikes prepared to slash and impale the Uchiha, Sasuke jumped back to avoid it, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

"You should never take your eyes off of your opponent, don't you know anything about fighting, yo?" asked the Jinchuuriki in his rhyming fashion, spinning in the air, his swords about to slice and pierce through the still Uchiha, whose eyes were still closed.

"SASUKE!" Karin screamed in warning as the rest of the Team Hawk watched in tense silence, not understanding why Sasuke was leaving himself open to an attack.

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes opened as the Jinchuuriki spun towards him, his new sharingan activated and rotating in a threatening manner. "It's over... Jinchuuriki," he spoke quietly. And although the next few words he spoke were in an equally low voice, they seemed to echo in the ears of the Jinchuuriki, who felt similar to a person frozen in time. "Mangekyou Sharingan."

It was the last thing the Jinchuuriki heard before darkness swept over him, yet not the final thing he saw before he was pulled into what would be endless torture. The last thing that gleamed before his eyes was the continuous rotation of the kaleidoscope-like sharingan eye, pulling him deeper into its depths into a genjutsu of which strength he was about to learn of...

...

Holding her hand out from the safety of the shelter above their heads, Sakura frowned at the dark clouds that loomed above them. "More rain," she said with a sigh before pulling back and closing the door behind herself. "I wanted to head out today to gather more information, but I guess that idea has to be cancelled." Her shoulders drooped in disappointment as she shuffled back to her seat at the kitchen table, across from Sai who had busied himself with reading and plopped herself down into her seat, sighing wearily as she leaned back into it, shivering slightly. "But it sure is cold, even at this time of the day," she commented, zipping her jacket up to trap in what little heat she had, wishing the teapot would heat faster so that she could make a hot cup of tea. Having had no reply from her companion, she sighed in aggravation, placing her chin in her hand and glaring out the kitchen window to her right. There was nothing else to do and to not be able to hold a long conversation with someone she was meant to be stuck with for however long they remained in the Rain village was irritating at the very least for the pink-haired shinobi. And it was frustrating that he did not really care for conversing, an attitude she did not think appropriate for someone who had previously attempted to be on better terms with her and Naruto and improve his social skills.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud rapping on the front door and both her and Sai turned to look at it in surprise. She glanced back at Sai who nodded before she stood and walked towards the door, grabbing the knob and turning it cautiously, opening the door a small way and peering outside.

"Ahh, a good, cautious couple we have here," Kazuma greeted with a grin. He held up his hand in a greeting gesture. "Yo."

Sakura stared at him with wide disbelieving eyes. "S-Soiichiro-san?" she gasped. What was he doing at their house and how did he know where they lived? Her hand on the door knob closed tightly around it. _So they're keeping tabs on us... damn it! We need to be even more careful now!_

"Oh, it's you old man," Sai said tactlessly, appearing behind Sakura at the door. "What do you want?"

"Sai!" Sakura hissed out of the corner of her mouth, knowing that he was being intentionally rude. Her eyebrow twitched as she forced a smile and she attempted to send him a telepathic message to not aggravate the gate-guard.

However, Kazuma simply threw back his head and laughed in amusement, alarming Sakura once more with his barking laugh. "As amusing as the last time I saw you! Well, I just simply decided to drop by as I was heading downtown to my workplace since I have a lot of time to spare before I get there," he explained cheerily.

"Oh, I see," Sakura said, brows creased together as she continued to forced her polite smile. "Well then, it's very nice to see you again. W-would you like some tea?" she asked, knowing that it was proper etiquette to invite someone in when they came over and pulling the door open a little more to show that she held no hostile intentions. She didn't want him to be anymore suspicious than he probably already was.

"Don't invite him in, I don't like having to speak to him," Sai put in, talking as if Kazuma were not standing directly in front of him.

"Sai!"

Kazuma laughed once more and put up a hand and waved it. "No, no! No need to invite me in. I just told you, I was simply dropping by to see how you were doing before I headed off to work and-"

The sound of knocking cut him off.

All three shinobi froze; two recognising the knocking sound that came from the trap door behind them, underneath the kitchen chair and the other who they knew held suspicions about them.

"What's that knocking?" Kazuma asked lightly, tilting his head as another round of knocking was heard, echoing about the kitchen.

_This is bad!_ Sakura thought, her palm sweaty and trembling on the door knob. She could see that although Kazuma spoke lightly, his tone held some dangerous seriousness behind it, as if he were warning them that the knocking was not only arousing his suspicions but the fact that he may act if his suspicions about them were to be confirmed. _Damn it, Naruto! Why now of all moments?_ Her grip tightened further on the door knob.

"I-I... seem to have left the pot on!" Sakura suddenly cried in alarm, whipping her head around to the stove behind her and racing towards it as the teapot steamed and whined loudly.

Sai sighed. "She's done it again." He turned back to Kazuma and headed towards him, grabbing the door knob. "Well, I believe that may have to end our conversation, I'll have to stop her from setting the house on fire," he explained coolly, preparing to close the door on the older man.

Hand pushing against the door to prevent it from closing on his face, Kazuma grinned at the dark-haired younger shinobi. "I hope you're not attempting to hide something from me, Yamakaze," he said with his wicked grin, his eyes glinting.

Sai's face remained impassive. "Do not worry, I have no intention of attempting such pointless things." The resistance on the door ceased and Sai closed it without another word. He remained in front of the door however and gently pressed his ear against it, silent as he listened.

There was a few tense moments of silence where Sakura switched off the stove, thanking her forgetfulness when it came to boiling water in the teapot (or else she would not have been able to get out of the tricky situation that had been forced into), she spoke quietly, hoping that it was safe to. "Is it time yet, Sai?"

There was a pause before Sai pulled away from the door, turning to her. "Yes, it's safe now, he's gone."

"Good," Sakura said with a grimace before turning and storming over to the kitchen chair she had been previously sitting on before Kazuma had arrived and kicking it aside, crouching and ripping open the trap door below it to find an annoyed Naruto underneath the lid whose expression suddenly changed to one of fear at the mad gleam in Sakura's eyes.

"U-uh... S-Sakura-chan... are you all right?" he asked tentatively, numerous beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead as he observed a large vein pop out on his team mate's forehead.

"NNNNAAARRRUUUTTTTOOOOOO!" she growled, seizing the front of Naruto's shirt and pulling him out roughly from the hole. "You nearly had us killed! What was so important that you needed to come in here and knock when we were being visited by the gate-guard?" she demanded, shaking him violently as she spoke as if attempting the shake the answer out of him.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "You were visited by that old man?"

"Yes," Sai answered. "I'm assuming he's always the guard on duty at the gates then?"

"Well, he was there when Kakashi-sensei and I arrived," Naruto replied as Sakura let go of the front of his shirt.

"Anyway Naruto, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, brows drawn together as she frowned.

Naruto turned to her, suddenly serious. "Kakashi-sensei and I have gathered some information about the Rain village that may help us find Sasuke."

Sakura's eyes widened. _They've already found some information that can lead us to Sasuke-kun?_ "Wh-what is it?" she asked, suddenly feeling numb. She suddenly wasn't sure that she could support herself on her own two feet and it seemed that Naruto had noticed.

His eyes softened. "Let's secure the area first and take a seat so I can tell you."

...

End Chapter 4.

A/N: Well, well, plot developing faster than I expected...? And the chapter was slightly longer than the one before... Please leave a review to tell me what you think!


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